Harbour Masters

From the Sydney Morning Herald, The Guide, page 4; 11 May 1998.

Days of effort go into every minute of the show that's nipping at Blue Heelers' heels. The recipe: character-driven drama, action, sexual tension ... and the special ingredient - Sydney Harbour. MATT BUCHANAN goes along for the ride.

It's a sunny, breezy afternoon and a ferry is chugging through the rolling swell between Sydney Heads. Everything seems as it should. But there, at the stern, a figure clambers ominously over the passenger rail. After a moment's hesitation he drops like a pencil into the churning water. Immediately a boat fires into action, arrives at his side and drags him aboard, kicking and screaming and fighting.

Cut? That's a wrap? Back to positions in five? Not a bit of it. That rescue was just a bit of reality.

"Yeah, we were at the Heads filming a sequence," says Water Rats location manager, Kingston Anderson. "This guy leapt off and our guys zoomed round. They called the real police at Manly and took him into custody. We discovered later that he was trying to commit suicide." Anderson pauses. "He was very annoyed with us because we saved him."

It is indicative of a show that strives at every level to be a plausible representation of the Sydney water police that they could "zoom around", as it were, with such conviction.

Water Rats, now screening its third series and with the fourth on the storyboard, is the long sought-after ratings achiever in drama for Channel 9.

Since it moved to Tuesday nights it leads its timeslot easily and, according to the Nielsen ratings released last week, scores only marginally behind its Southern Star stablemate and frequent ratings leader, Blue Heelers.

Centred on the travails of Sydney Harbour's law enforcers, it neatly balances character-driven drama with lots of splashy action. The relationship between working-class hardnut detective Frank Holloway, played by Colin Friels, and his partner, Catherine McClements' urgent though elusive Goldie, is the central dynamic.

"We just lucked out," says John Hugginson, co-creator and script executive at Nine. "We got Goat Island, we got Colin Friels, we got Cath McClements."

The original idea came to him 10 years ago when, while working in the rag trade, he saw a police boat go up the Brisbane River and thought, "Ooh, no-one's ever done that sort of show before".

His first script was considered too ambitious and expensive, focused as it was not just on the outdoors and action, but action on water. A few years later, however, when he moved into television, his work on the increasingly successful Blue Heelers encouraged him to ask its co-creator, Tony Morphett, to collaborate on a "rehash". They brought the characters of Goldie and Holloway up to date and pitched to a willing Southern Star. Nine, in turn, rather than offer just a pilot, backed them for 28 episodes. It is now sold to more than 100 countries.

Water Rats is a precious product for Nine. And the network, via the show's executive producer, Ted Roberts, chaperones the program production expertise every step of the way. And at $450,000 an episode it would want to. It's an expensive show and, on water where problems with continuity, scene set-ups, transport and weather are exaggerated, it's an expensive risk.

To produce 42 1/2 minutes of Holloway, Goldie, Senior Constable Tommy Tavita (Jay Laga'aia) and their custom-built motor craft, Nemesis, there is a script-to-screening period of about 16 weeks. Two episodes are often shot concurrently over nine to 10 days. Each day of shooting must realise six to seven minutes of screen footage. Aside from the video diving sequences, it is shot on costly film, often with two or three cameras. And with up to 100 people at work at any one time, a 32-episode series comes in at about $15.5 million.

It might seem a lot but as Anderson says: "Look, it's the only drama show which tackles the harbour and things like diving."

Over the course of three weeks, 'The Guide' was invited to experience the key stages on a Water Rats episode's route from story concept to episode screening. Up to six episodes are in various stages of production at any one time. An episode will often be a self-contained story so that in the event of a key actor falling ill, as was recently the case with a now recovering Friels, the screening order may be seamlessly changed. Flexibility is a key feature of the series and, as early on as scripting, among the most important considerations.

THE SCRIPT CONFERENCE

In a small room in one of a row of cottages leased from the Parks and Wildlife Service on Goat Island, an all-day plotting meeting is well under way. Surrounded by whiteboards with Water Rats plots sketched for every episode until the end of the season, script producer Bill Searle acts as a conductor to a composition in the making. This is a relatively new team. You wouldn't guess that Searle and Peter Gawler (the writer) have only "crossed paths occasionally" and that Gawler has worked with Yuki Asano (script editor), but not Amanda Higgs or Liz Packett (also script editors). At the end of the day, episode 86 must be plotted to the point where Gawler will be able to supply a scene-by-scene breakdown and then leave the group to complete a first draft. That means establishing the main story details, the subplot and deciding which story goes in the "hook", the action scenes before the credits. They must also consider the introduction of the main characters before the commercial break.

Story suggestions run freely but are checked and sorted for plausibility or motivation. Why does the mother want to risk dobbing in her daughter to get the boyfriend? Are these our type of crims? How do they put Goldie into the heart of the story before the first commercial break? How far away can a passenger liner be from Sydney before it is not considered a police matter? This they need to get right.

"If a crime is committed at sea within proximity to Sydney Harbour it would still legitimately be a water police matter," says Grant Williams, the full-time Water Rats consultant and badge-carrying water policeman. And he doesn't just speak up when consulted on questions of protocol, jurisdiction or law. He throws in story ideas too.

"Grant's contribution is invaluable," says Gawler later. "He really does have an insight. And you can't really do the story without that combination of creative and expert knowledge."

THE EDITING

For Neil Thumpston, editing Water Rats is as much about speed as style. In the editing suites at the top level of the vast split-level production warehouse on Goat Island, he and assistant editor Jan Louthean use a state-of-the-art computerised editing system.

"You've got to be very quick about making decisions," he says. "For every shot we've got two to three cameras running, so it's an enormous amount of footage and choice, especially with the opening action sequences."

Thumpston flicks back and forth between the "800 or so cuts per show" as if he were changing channels on the television. "If you want to make changes, the technology has made it so you can make them as fast as you can think."

With so many directors, there must be a lot of different styles. "I know most of the directors quite well now so basically our working relationship is that they shoot heaps of footage which I hopefully turn into a good show. Then they come in and look at it and applaud (laughs).

"One of our directors is Peter Andrikidis. He did the Wildside episode last night. It was very nicely directed but he's got very used to using this NYPD Blue/Chicago Hope style of shooting: cameras panning everywhere, tonnes of movement and lots of shots and very busy editing. He came here and wanted to introduce that to Water Rats. So all that takes a while to accommodate, to make sure we're not spoiling the product. Water Rats isn't Wildside; it's a whole different type of product."

THE PRODUCTION MEETING

A Water Rats production meeting is a popular affair, held on the wharf outside the converted garage that houses The Cutter Bar. Everyone involved in episode 72's production attends or is represented, including the production designer, costume supervisor and art director. The stunt co-ordinator, Glen Ruehland, is there too. He has brought his Matchbox cars and arranged them meticulously at the head of his production notes. I presume this is in case of an impromptu car-chase choreography.

Assistant director Wade Savage briskly goes through the details of the shooting schedule, occasionally fielding a question and stopping to confer with the director, Andrikidis. Everyone is told where they need to be and what they need to bring. Locations, props and responsibilities are confirmed. Times of the tides are noted.

Andrikidis is a Water Rats veteran. On the set and at Goat Island he is the talk of the moment, with many whispering their admiration for his direction of Wildside. He laments later that working within the confines of a commercial series doesn't allow the same scope for performance as shows like Wildside. "It's all about performance," he says, "letting the actors really go for it."

THE SHOOT

From the production we are not so much whisked away as bounced across the harbour to Clontarf marina where episode 72 is being shot. Arrayed around a jetty, slipway and a precariously angled motorboat crowd the cameraman, stunt operators and this episode's director, Chris Martin-Jones.

The scene concerns a woman who is trapped under the boat, which has fallen from the slip due to sabotage. The tide's coming in and there's no-one else on the island except for the water police. This is a job for Goldie and Senior Constable Tavita.

"There were a lot of parameters in choosing the location," says Kingston Anderson. "It had to be isolated. This marina is opposite The Spit on a quiet road, so it looks like it's in the middle of nowhere. It has the right-sized slip. There's beautiful, crystal-clear water and, of course, it was available."

In a gesture of contrariness, the tide starts to go out. Adjustments are made. Then "the mother" is returned to her place, supine beneath the prow of the boat. Three cameras are readied, including one in a specialised underwater housing. The beautiful Catherine McClements sighs that she can't wait to ruin her brown suit. On the cue of action, the mother screams, the jetty shudders and McClements rushes into knee-deep water to do just that.

POST-PRODUCTION

Today involves what is referred to as "the spot", where a rough cut - in this case, the episode we viewed in the editing suite, episode 61, David Caesar's "Not Fade Away" - is assessed in regard to the soundtrack.

Original music will have to be scored over the guide tracks editor Thumpston has sampled from shows such as Chicago Hope and NYPD Blue. Sound quality has to be checked and, if necessary, certain scenes may need some overdubbing.

It is also the last production stage before the show is presented to Nine's head of drama, Kris Noble.

Adam Gock (music editor), Mark Rivett (musical director and composer) and Mark Franklin (sound technician), of the post-production company Song Zu, host the meeting in a slinky office space, all twisting stairs and skylights. Ted Roberts, Water Rats' executive producer, is joined by script producer Searle, who is seeing how his baby is growing up. Roberts is, as producer Brett Popplewell put it, "a direct liaison between the show and Nine".

"Not Fade Away" has everything; a brush with death for Holloway, oddball danger in the form of regular bad guy Kiwi Dave, and a cranking up of the sexual tension between Holloway and Goldie that could crack brass nuts.

Roberts stops the tape to make a change. Greater exposition is needed in a short speech from Tavita. They drop a "superfluous" line from Goldie. Franklin will fix this. There is easy communication between Roberts and Rivett. At one point they differ: Rivett likes an up-tempo moment in the rough cut. Roberts demurs: "I'd like the music really, really low. The scene plays itself."

"I'm not sure about that," says Rivett.

"Well," decides Roberts, "we'll do the usual thing. Just try it."

THE MIX

By the time a Water Rats episode reaches the mix in a plush studio viewing room in Crows Nest, it is all but complete. Only finetuning and tweaking remains. Rivett and Franklin from Song Zu are present, as is Roberts. Rivett explains that despite the fantastic sound available from the studio speakers, they choose to use the smaller, inferior ones to more accurately approximate the sound viewers will receive.

If at all necessary, the tweaksmith will probably be Nine's Kris Noble. Noble is here, as he has been so many Monday mornings, to give network approval. "Usually, if everything's OK, there's very little to do," he says.

And that is the case today. He does wish to drop some underwater dialogue to keep the tension up but defers to Rivett in another scene on the question of volume. Apart from a few minor changes and the subtitling, the episode we have watched will be the one going to air. Some 16 weeks after the story concept was cleared, fleshed out, planned, cast, located, shot and finally executed, teased, finessed and approved, it's ready for you. Next time the credits roll, you'll have some idea who to thank.

BIRTH OF AN EPISODE

1. Plot meeting with freelance writers.

2. 15-page scene breakdowns from freelancers.

3. Freelancers provide first and second draft scripts, incorporating editor's notes.

4. Meeting with director, producer and executive producer (EP) to approve final script, which is issued to production team and cast.

5. Actors are auditioned on videotape for EP's approval.

6. Heads of departments (HoDs), executive producer, producer and director meet to go through script. Requirements in terms of wardrobe, make-up, sets, props, extras, stunts, locations etc are discussed and tailored to budget and schedule.

7. Director, EP, producer and HoDs survey locations arranged by location manager.

8. EP, producer, director, production designer, stunt co-ordinator, safety supervisor and camera dept discuss and plan stunts.

9. Final production meeting runs through shooting schedule. Final approvals from producer and EP.

10. Main and second units begin shooting.

11. Rushes of each day's shoot are delivered to EP, who looks for possible re-shoots, fidelity to script and departures from series style. Film editor begins scene-by-scene assembly.

12. Editor assembles whole episode on completion of shoot.

13. Director works with editor to make changes as he sees fit.

14. Executive producer has final cut.

15. EP shows final cut to network executive for approval.

16. Time-coded cut is shown to music composers, post-production supervisor, sound mixers and script producer. EP indicates requirements for music cues and sound effects.

17. Film is graded for colour, tone, light, contrast, etc.

18. Final mix submitted to the EP and network executive for approval.

19. Delivery to network.

20. Network adds captions for hearing impaired. Excerpts taken for station promos.

21. Episode goes to air.